Marc Márquez it has had years of learning, confirmation, maturation and this can be defined as that of ‘adaptation’. He has had to restructure his head, motorcycle and riding to the new reality that marks his right arm: three operations, complications, frustrations and many doubts. Chat with ABC from Austin, once his particular oasis, as he has won six out of seven times in MotoGP (he fell in 2019 when he was leading the pack), with some confidence for two good races, but the lesson learned, the hard way, that the goals have to be on the ground, that the time will come to fly. It still does not touch, no matter how much it hurts.
Well ok. A year like this, a little
complicated and difficult, but it seems that little by little we are improving and we are already doing a little better, especially in this second part of the season. How are you now? Well, I would like to be better, but we cannot complain. Little by little we are improving.
Does Austin’s race come at the best of times?
The other years, whenever Austin came he said: ‘I want to win here’. Now trying to be on the podium would already be a good weekend. You have to face it with expectations that have to be real to your state of form, in which you are currently. Don’t throw away the past. And everything that comes to the best, then welcome will be. But for the moment the realistic expectations are that we have come from two quite good races, almost the two best of the year – Aragon and Misano – and trying to be on the podium would already be a good weekend.
What percentage of the Márquez you want to be again is being seen in these last races?
If I’m honest it goes a bit to circuits and moments. It depends on whether you take the Marc on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. During the weekend my physique is going down a bit. It’s not that I’m physically wrong. When I talk about physicality, it is the arm above all, which is costing me more than I expected: stiffness, tendonitis, pain … all this on the motorcycle you should not think about it, but when there is pain, your head goes to your arm . I would say that in circuits I have been at 80 percent and in others at 60. I am driving in an unnatural way for me. I don’t get instinct. If I drive, how instinct comes to me is when I make mistakes, when I fall, when I get overwhelmed because it doesn’t come out. So I already face the weekends not with the intention of going fast, but with the intention of adapting the riding style to what the situation requires.
Does your arm still hurt so much that you have to think about it at all times?
Yes. The shoulder is part of my day to day. The physio, the work, the specific exercises to try to strengthen it. We are in a period of many races and it is very difficult to work on it specifically. When the motorcycle weekend arrives there is pain, you cannot work in the gym. I was a pilot who hardly visited the physio and now I am there constantly, to try to help, minimize these pains a little, but it is still far from where I would like. It is far from the left arm.
Are you driving more cautiously? Does that cause more mistakes to be made?
Caution is the same as always. When you get on top of the bike, you can’t think that I’m not going to fall, I’m not going to take risks. It is clear that there are certain situations in which you have to understand very well how you are physically on the bike because if at that moment you risk it is much more difficult to save the fall, to save any scare. But it is true that there have been many falls that I have not understood why. Then, analyzing them, they have simply been due to a different position on the bike, due to a different distribution of weights from my body, and it is caused by that. But the risks in a fast lap and in the race are the same as always.
You won in Germany, was it real? It was real, sure, but …
No, it wasn’t real, you’re right. (laughs). I valued it as a gift. Because we came I think from three consecutive falls and you arrive in Germany and win, all at once. I took it as a gift to effort. As a reward for all the effort of all those months, he gave the team a very good energy because we were… me and the rest of the team because it is contagious. They are always at their best, but this environment of concern about what is happening is contagious. But this gave us encouragement, an extra energy and from then on everything seems to have gone better. Yes, the results have not been incredible, but at least we are closer to those in front and we are understanding more things.
For a long time he has won and it seemed like he was making it easy. It is very difficult, of course, but I suppose that winning helps to have energy to train the next day. How have you learned to manage that frustration of wanting and not being able yet?
It is exactly as you say. When you gain the motivation and the workouts it seems that they serve twice as much. You come to a race after a win and on Monday you could train. When you get a bad result, you are physically fused for two or three days. And you say ‘but I have done the same’. But the adrenaline of the victories makes you always have the energy to the maximum. That’s one of the things I’ve worked on this year, and the best method is ‘realistic goals’. No fictitious goals. To face the weekends with a low profile, to be there waiting a little bit. Finishing fourth at Misano is not a victory, but for me it was like a victory because my real goal was to finish fifth to seventh. And I was able to stay fourth. That was better than expected. When you come from winning so much it is difficult to accept it at first. But then you understand that either you accept it or you will consume yourself mentally and consequently physically.
Has there been a circuit where you have come out saying ‘I won’t go back to the bike’?
Yes, there have been situations of everything. When you are in a difficult moment, an injury, a year inactive, there are pain, it costs you … you consider everything. It all means telling you ‘I’m stopping some races and trying to recover better’ or ‘come on, I’m going to do more and more and more motorcycle, to see what happens’. But then you have to also be a bit conservative and look for intermediate terms. What helped me the most was what I’ve said before: don’t set high expectations for myself, set yourself achievable expectations. Don’t expect a victory every weekend or a podium. But there are circuits that you can wait for them, like in this Austin. I say to myself ‘why not? I see myself qualified to do it. ‘ But don’t expect a victory. If I get a podium for me it will be a good result.
And this year the bike is not helping either. Are doubts raised as to whether one is no longer a good pilot?
When things cost, when the results do not come, doubts of all kinds enter. If I am doing the right thing, if I have forgotten to ride a motorcycle, if the injury is affecting my head … a little you ask yourself everything: if the problem is me, if it is the motorcycle, if I am in the right place . Everything. But then you think about it coldly and you see that the flash goes off sometimes. It goes out to results, in turns, in moments. And this is very important. It is important to understand it. I have not helped the bike at the start of the season, but the bike is not at its best either. We have worked both parts. My part at home physically, and the Honda part, Japan, engineers to continue building our future.
And now he is also receiving criticism from certain colleagues. Everything at once. Does that hurt more?
What I focus on is myself. When you are in difficult moments, it is easier for people to attack, because they know that you are weak. But one of the most important things that I have done has been to put aside those social networks, which sometimes are so good and cause so many good things, but sometimes they can be so bad. I’ve set them aside a little bit. I follow them, but not so closely. All of this helps. And you have to know how to organize all this. An athlete is not just going fast or training. It is also having your head in place and without more. Stay on my line.
What will you be most proud of when you finish the course?
I will be proud to have returned to do a whole championship. Having gotten back on a motorcycle. I had an injury that, at times, even the doctors doubted if the arm would be acceptable, if I could regain all mobility, if I could have enough strength to ride a motorcycle. Competing in Portimao and being able to do the whole season I am already proud this year. Logically for the future I want to continue growing and I want to compete again as I did before, which is fighting for victory.
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